Meeting Set with Education Inspector

Meeting Set with Education Inspector

Article excerpt

MANATEE: Department of Education official will talk with Mills
today

MANATEE COUNTY

The Inspector General of the state's Department of Education is
scheduled to meet with Superintendent Rick Mills today, less than a
week after Mills requested the state investigate the financial woes
that plagued the district under previous leadership.

Mills officially requested the inquiry -- which would examine
instances of "neglect" and "incompetence" that led to $46 million in
budget shortfalls in recent years -- in a letter sent to Inspector
General Mike Blackburn last week.

At a school board meeting Tuesday, Mills defended his request,
rebuking those he says have asserted that his appeal was made to
"distract from the dysfunction" of the School Board.

He pointed out that if the district is not able to mitigate an
additional $10 million in penalties for spending errors handed down
by the Auditor General's Office, district overspending in recent
years rises to $56 million.

"There is nothing hilarious or ridiculous about that fact," said
Mills, who read from a written statement Tuesday.

If the Inspector General starts a probe of the district's
finances, it would be the second time in recent years financial
practices have been scrutinized for criminal activity or
malfeasance.

In the wake of former superintendent Tim McGonegal's resignation
over a growing budget deficit in September 2012, School Board
members commissioned the Tampa firm Navigant to conduct a forensic
audit.

That audit -- completed in January 2013 -- blamed bad leadership
and poor budget processes for the crisis, but found no evidence of
fraud. The probe cost the district more than $160,000, and caused
some to question the "laser focus" that some school officials had
asked for.

"I have some real concerns that the Navigant audit was not broad
enough in scope to address the issues of waste, abuse, malfeasance
and misfeasance," said Mills, who was hired to right the struggling
district in March 2013.

Looking for answers

It's not clear what would happen if previous school leaders
became specific subjects of such an investigation. …